Occasional NJ saltwater fishing adventures

From Capt. Stew on the Pez Machine: Our Tues/Weds overnighter was incredible despite the 90+ boats crowding the canyon. We started off with a longfin on the chunk after about 30 minutes of chunking. I got impatient and put the boat on the troll.

We went 2 for 4 on bigeyes on the troll before dark, pulling one off just 10 feet under the boat.

On the chunk we picked a yellowfin then did battle for an hour and 45 minutes on 50 pound fluorocarbon leader. The 66″ bigeye did everything it could to get away but we darted the fish at 2am.

At 4am the herd rolled in. We were fishing light leader and broke a bunch of fish off but ended up 7 for 13 on 70-90 pound yellowfins.

Down to one bait in the water we got a surprise visit from a 68″ swordfish. Again, this fish hit on 50lb fluoro and we fought it into the daylight.

When we were all cleaned up we had gone 3 for 5 on bigeyes, 8 for 14 on yellowfins, landed a longfin and boated a 68″ sword!!

When Tim Davis tells you to “cast over there,” do as he says. With high tide at 6:15 PM and sunset around 7:45, we pushed into the salt marsh to cast popping plugs into grass only flooded on the highest of tides. Tim and Chandler bombed Smack-It plugs down the bank while I worked a Rapala X-Rap Walk. Terns picked spearing and bay anchovies across the sound, and juvenile osprey soared overhead, looking for a final meal before leaving for southern climes.

Tim and I quickly found the small bluefish that were corralling the small bait, swirling on our plugs without getting hooked. My plug landed short with the leader fouled on the front hook. I quickly retrieved my lure to clear the fouled line when a black streak appeared behind it, pushing a significant wake. Slowing the plug down, the striped bass exploded on it as if someone tossed a bowling ball in the bay. Unpleasantly surprised at the hook in his mouth, the fish sped down the bank, taking braided line from the reel as he went. After a few minutes of back and forth, Tim slipped the Boga Grip in its mouth and lifted the fish into the boat. We put a damp towel over his eyes while Tim threaded a yellow spaghetti tag from the American Littoral Society into the fish’s tail. Tim and Capt. Adam Fox have tagged over 1,000 striped bass in the last decade, providing valuable data to fisheries scientists.

With the tag tied off and trimmed, we snapped this photo and released our friend to grow to be as big as he looks in Tim’s fantastic photo.